


blue hydrangeas

by moonlightrichie



Series: Reddie Meet-Cute AUs [5]
Category: IT (Movies - Muschietti), IT - Stephen King
Genre: Alternate Universe - Different First Meeting, Alternate Universe - Flower Shop, Alternate Universe - Flower Shop & Tattoo Parlor, Alternate Universe - Tattoo Parlor, Eddie works in a tattoo shop, Fluff, M/M, Meet-Cute, Mutual Pining, Richie works in a flower shop, it's real cute
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-31
Updated: 2019-12-31
Packaged: 2021-02-27 03:21:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,946
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22050208
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/moonlightrichie/pseuds/moonlightrichie
Summary: Eddie owns a tattoo shop and buys more flowers than he needs. All because of a crush.
Relationships: Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier
Series: Reddie Meet-Cute AUs [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1281395
Comments: 16
Kudos: 353





	blue hydrangeas

**Author's Note:**

  * For [tinyarmedtrex](https://archiveofourown.org/users/tinyarmedtrex/gifts).



> This is my discord family secret santa gift for Amelia!

Eddie Kaspbrak was in the end of his twenties, and never in his life had he taken a step into a flower shop.

Not that he had anything against them. He wasn’t allergic, and he didn't exactly have a reason to _not_ go in there. An ex-boyfriend of his had sulkily pouted his lip on Valentine’s Day a few years ago and said “ _you never buy me flowers, Eddie_ ” before ripping the chocolate Eddie had bought for him out of Eddie’s hands. To put it short, they hadn’t stayed together long after that, and Eddie had kept staying away from flower shops.

“You should have just bought him those flowers,” Beverly had mumbled around a bubble of gum the day after the breakup while they were at work. She’d apologized soon after as she knew of Eddie’s struggle with flowers (or pollen more specifically), following it up with, “he wouldn’t have been worth it anyways. What was his name again? I can't remember”, making Eddie laugh through his tears.

She had been right though. Not only with how his ex wasn’t worth the effort of walking into the poisoned pollen-atmosphere of a flower shop, but also with how easy it really should have been to walk in there.

He wasn’t allergic, damn it, so why couldn’t he just do it?

It would be easy: walk in, ask for the prettiest flower bouquet, pay and walk out. Nothing scary about it.

But it _wasn’t_ that easy. Just the thought of breathing in the toxic flower shop air made his lungs clam up, his nose scrunching in discomfort. It was as if he was allergic but without the allergy.

Then his Ma got sick, and now, two months later, she was asking him why he still hadn’t brought her flowers. And even though Beverly wouldn’t exactly throw herself on the train of agreement, his Ma was definitely worth getting flowers for. 

“Eddie, you’ll be fine,” Beverly said as she was working on a costumer. One of her own designs, a beautiful dotted star in black ink, was almost finished on a costumer's shoulder. “You can do it.” With a quick look up to meet his gaze with a bright smile, she paused briefly before focusing back on her work.

He’d been researching which flowers were allergy friendly all night, just to make sure his Ma wouldn’t freak out. Also, that way he would be able to be in the hospital room for more than five minutes without absolutely losing it.

Frowning down at the counter top, he couldn’t get his brain to register that he was looking down at the schedule plan for the day. He’d already memorized it, owning the parlor and all; he felt it was his responsibility. He knew that he didn’t have any appointments for another half hour. Plenty of time to run over to the flower shop across the street to buy his Ma a bouquet. With a sigh, he drummed his hands on his thighs before standing up. “Fine, wish me luck.”

“Good luck, hun!” Beverly yelled without looking up from where her needle was piercing through tanned skin.

“If I die, I need you to take over the parlor. It's all yours. I haven’t written a will yet as I haven’t prepared to die this early in life, but I don't have kids, no siblings and I'm also single as hell, so you're my only option. I'm just letting you know now," he opened the door, “just in case.”

“Sweet,” she mumbled, and then he was out the door and slowly making his way towards ' _Oopsie Daisy_ ’.

He didn’t know what he’d expected. Well, he had a certain idea of what would meet him as he opened the door to the flower shop: maybe an older woman in a floral dress working the register, a sickening smell of different flowers mixed together and making a nauseating odor, and pollen littering the air all around. None of these things were what met him, though. The smell of flowers were still strong, but quite the opposite of nauseating. Instead it was nice, maybe even refreshing, and Eddie couldn’t help himself from cracking a smile at the lovely scent. There were pre-made bouquets put into different baskets, ordered in colors from pink to white to red. They all looked really pretty.

His eyes landed on the employee working the desk, and Eddie could already feel himself blushing at the sight of the man putting together a garland in deep concentration, smiling up at the old lady he was helping every once in a while. So at least there was an old woman as Eddie had expected, only on the wrong side of the register.

The man was wearing a bright Hawaiian shirt tucked into light jeans held up by a belt, and even in a store full of colorful flowers demanding attention, all of Eddie’s were on the man. Dark wavy hair and crooked teeth as he laughed politely at something the woman said, and Eddie was already in love.

A bell ding'd as the door shut, and then the man’s eyes were locked on him, blue behind red glasses, and all Eddie could do was stare, fully mesmerized.

“Hello!” the man smiled, gaze soon turning back to his work.

With a soft gasp, Eddie had to look away, forcing his attention back on the flowers, the reason he was even in there at all. There were small handwritten notes on each group of flowers, telling the name of them, and Eddie let his finger brush briefly over one. _Tulips_.

“Have a nice day!” he heard the man say as the woman walked out of the store, she replying with a happy “you too!” as she left. She was smiling to herself, clearly happy with the service. In her hand she held a paper bag with the shop's logo on it, the garland peeking out from the top. He looked back down at the flowers in front of him.

“Hello there!” a sunny voice said from behind Eddie, and he spun around to be faced with the man. “Is there anything I can help you with today?”

“I, uh-” Eddie sighed as he looked down at his feet, already feeling flustered. When he looked back up, the man’s smile was softer, more wary, eyebrows raised in expectation.

“I was thinking of buying my mom a bouquet?” he started. “She’s sick, so I thought that might be nice. I think she’d like something allergy friendly. Not that she’s allergic, though, but like, uh, she doesn’t like pollen. Makes her kinda panicked. And if they smell too strongly, she won’t like them either, so something subtle would be best. So I was thinking maybe lilies? Or whatever else? I searched online, and it said they were fine for people with allergies. I don’t know if they have a strong scent though, but I’m sure _you_ do.” He laughed awkwardly. “Once again, not that she’s allergic, she just-, uh…” Eddie forced himself to stop, rambling words on his tongue. He pressed his lips together harshly to stop them from pouring out.

The man blinked a couple of times, silence settling over them for a few seconds before he smiled again. “Oh, uhm, yeah! We've got lilies. And hydrangeas. Hydrangeas don't have any smell, so they might be just what you're looking for. Why don’t I show them to you and you can tell me what you think?”

Eddie nodded, his cheeks warm. “That sounds good.”

Four minutes later, and they’d found a mix of blue hydrangeas and some greens to go along with the bouquet the man was putting together. It was quiet between them as he worked, him humming along to the music playing softly from the speakers, some alternative song Eddie hadn’t ever heard before.

“The shop is really nice,” Eddie commented, wanting to keep some sort of conversation going with the handsome man. “Never been here before.”

“Thanks.” The man looked up, crooked teeth biting into his lower lip as he smiled at Eddie. For a second, he just looked, eyes seeming to really take him in. “And yeah, I would have remembered you if you’d been here before.”

Eddie blinked, not knowing exactly what that meant.

Then the man looked back down, wrapping the flowers up in gift paper, quickly finishing up Eddie’s bouquet. As he paid, he felt disappointment grow in the pit of his stomach at the thought of leaving, wanting to spend more time with the man. Maybe start up a proper conversation, flirt a little, get his number, go on a couple of dates, Eddie didn’t even know he’d wanted to get back into dating again. Now though, he felt the opportunity slip through his fingers as the man gave him the finished bouquet, their hands brushing for a millisecond and shooting sparks all the way into Eddie’s heart and making it quicken its pace.

“Thanks so much.” Eddie gestured down to the flowers with his head. “It turned out really beautiful.”

The man smiled, crinkles appearing on the edges of his eyes. Eddie's heart kept racing. “I’m happy to help! Have a nice day.”

“You too”, Eddie turned around, feet heavy as they made their way towards the exit without his will. The bell dinged once again as he opened the door and stepped out, fresh air reminding him of how strong the smell of flowers had really been in there. He hadn’t even noticed. His feet kept walking, while his heart was aching to jump out of his chest and run back the way he came.

Two days had passed when Eddie couldn’t resist anymore, once again opening the door to ' _Oopsie Daisy_ ’.

To his disappointment, he wasn’t met with the charming man from last time, but instead with another employee, blonde curls and sharp cheekbones, and he couldn’t help his disappointment.

“Hello!” the man said, and Eddie tried to smile, but he knew it came off as stiff and forced. Looking around, he pretended to look at the options, even though the flowers hadn’t been the reason he came in there. He guessed he could pretend to look for a little while and then leave.

“Stan! Did you make the Christmas gar- _oh,_ ” a backdoor almost hit Eddie in the shoulder and Eddie jumped back just before his dream man walked straight into him.

“Hi, sorry about that.” The man smiled sheepishly, voice lowered.

Eddie blushed under the man’s gaze. “No worries.”

“Did your mom like the flowers?”

“Uh, yeah, I-,” Eddie stopped. “Uh, that’s why I’m here, uh, to buy her another bouquet. She loved the first one, but she’d love, uh, lilies, she said.”

His mom definitely didn’t need another bouquet; she was barely happy with the first one. (“I don’t like sleeping with pollen littering the room, are you sure they’re allergy-friendly Eddie-bear?” “I searched it Ma, and the guy working there told me they should be fine.” “Oh what does he know? He probably has no idea what he’s doing. And I don’t like this blue color either.”) To say it was a good idea to buy her another bouquet would be a bit of a stretch.

The man raised his brows. “Of course, I’ll show you.”

As they looked at the different types of lilies, Eddie looked up to catch the man already staring at him, his eyes flickering away briefly when they met Eddie’s. He smiled softly then, cheeks turning a light pink.

“I didn’t expect to see you back here so soon.” He cleared his throat, hands fumbling with the flowers in his hands. Long pale fingers wrapping around fragile stems, beautiful lilies blossoming at the top.

Looking away, Eddie couched into his fist. “Yeah, me neither.”

“Does your mom really need two bouquets of flowers in a week?” He quirked an eyebrow, something amused glittering in his eyes.

“I guess not,” Eddie sighed. “Honestly, she didn’t really like the hydrangeas, so I thought maybe I could buy her some lilies and take the others to have for myself or something. I liked them a lot, so I don’t mind.” Eddie was impressed at his own improvising skills.

“You like blue?”

Eddie couldn’t help but study the color of the man’s eyes, pretty oceans swimming with reflections of the sun shining through the store window. They reminded him of last summer when the sunshine had shined down on the waves he'd seen during his vacation to Florida. He loved the ocean, so full of mysteries and secrets that he wished he was brave enough to explore. The intrigue of it was what pulled him in, a sublime feeling washing over him. Hadn’t it been for the winter season, Christmas creeping up behind garland-covered doors, he would have taken more trips to the beach. He smiled honestly, goosebumps spreading over his arms as the man’s blue eyes gleamed at him, suddenly reminding him of where he was. “Yeah, it’s my favorite color.”

For a moment the man simply looked at Eddie, but then he looked back down at the flowers he was holding. It seemed like he was about to say something, lips parting, when a voice spoke from the register.

"Richie? I need some help on the computer."

And then the moment was over, Eddie pulled out of his mesmerized daze of ocean-blue eyes.

"I'll be there in a second!" The man, Richie, looked back to Eddie, a hand holding up the flowers. "Uhm, do these look fine?"

Eddie nodded dumbly. "Yeah, looks great."

And so, three minutes later and Eddie was walking out with a new expensive flower bouquet, not knowing what to do with it. He could bring it home maybe. It'd look pretty on his dining room table, he guessed.

For a second he contemplated just throwing it away, not wanting the pollen to occupy his safe space at home, but Richie had made it too perfect for such a travesty. The flowers deserved better. Richie deserved better. Eddie's wallet deserved better. He guessed he'd find a place for them.

Beverly greeted him lazily from the register when he entered the tattoo parlor, the place otherwise empty. She didn't look up from the magazine she kept flipping through, elbows resting on the counter. "Where'd you go?"

"I, uh-," he stopped, suddenly feeling a need to hide the flowers, not ready for the questions. At his suspicious behavior, she looked up in interest, eyes narrowing at the white flowers he held, all wrapped up in plastic and a bow with a small card hanging from it. They narrowed as she looked up to meet Eddie's gaze, confusion evident in them.

"What is that."

Eddie knew she wasn't really asking, the hidden words behind her spoken ones probably being something like _"Eddie, why the fuck are you holding another flower bouquet, aren't you afraid of flowers? What the hell is that for?"_ , but he couldn't help himself from shrugging and answering, "uh, flowers?"

She rolled her eyes. "Yeah, I can see that it's flowers." With a small breathy laugh, she walked around the counter and walked up to him, taking the flowers out of his hand. "But why do you have them?"

"They were pretty," was all he said.

"Who are they for?"

"I don't know."

She raised her eyebrows. "You don't know?"

"No."

"Eddie?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you have a secret boyfriend I don't know about?"

"No?"

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"Then who are they for?"

"Like I said, I don't know."

She stopped, clicking her tongue as she looked at the flowers in her hand. "Wanna tell me what's going on?"

He sighed. "Promise not to make fun of me."

A twitch of a smile pulled at the corner of her mouth, making it seem like she was already struggling not to laugh. "I promise."

Already blushing, he avoided her stare by looking down at his hands, fingers picking at the skin around his nails. "The guy working there is really cute."

Beverly didn't say anything for a few seconds, and he didn't dare look up at her quite yet.

"Oh my god."

"Bev, please."

"Oh, my _god_."

"Bev."

"Eddie, you just bought a super expensive flower bouquet for no reason when you don't even like flowers, _just because a guy was cute_."

He groaned. "Why are you saying it like I don't already know that?"

Silence settled over them, Eddie refusing to look at Beverly. It wasn't like he didn't always tell her about his crushes or anything. Usually he never hesitated to let her know. But there was something about this specific crush that made him feel embarrassed by his own actions. All his long rants about allergies and flowers littering the air with toxins, probably hours of complaining that she'd listened to without judging him. And then all of a sudden, he was throwing that away and turning up with a bouquet he didn't need just because he had a tiny crush, and yeah that felt a little embarrassing.

"He must be really cute."

He finally looked at her, expecting some sort of amused smirk, but was instead greeted with a genuine smile, and in an instant, all he felt was safe. With a small nod, he let himself smile slightly.

"Really cute."

She gasped, grinning as she waved the flowers around. "Eddie, that's adorable!"

"It's not like it's anything more than a crush," he shrugged. "I don't know if he even likes guys."

She finally put the flowers down at the counter top, hopping up to sit next to them and waving her feet, heels bumping against the counter. "Well, you won't know unless you shoot your shot!"

He scoffed. "No way."

"Eddie, come on."

She looked at him all hopeful, teeth biting into her bottom lip and eyes wide behind the hipster glasses she liked to wear.

With a defeated sigh, he stepped up to the flowers, tracing the petals of one of the lilies, the texture silky against his finger. "I'll think about it."

"Yay!" she clapped her hands together, the sound making him chuckle.

"Now help me figure out what to do with these flowers."

A week passed.

Eddie managed to stay away from the flower shop for a whole entire week.

It had been far from easy though. Anytime he passed the cute white door, he had to physically force himself to keep from walking inside, his body continuously trying to work its own automatic functions without his consent and opening that door. Sometimes he'd try to take a peak through the window while walking past it to see if he could get a glimpse of Richie, but the windows reflected too much of the world outside. Although, he wasn't sure if it was his imagination messing with his head, but there had been a couple of times where he was sure he could hear the man laugh from inside, making Eddie's heart speed up unnecessarily fast.

So when he woke up on a Thursday for work, an entire week later, he allowed himself to visit the little flower shop again.

The bell dinged as he entered, the familiar design of the store making him feel giddy. A couple of differences were to be noted, such as the fact that a lot of the pink flowers had been replaced by red ones, the color of Christmas doing a solid impression of cozying up the shop in theme of the holiday season. Heaps of mistletoe were to be found in one of the first baskets he saw as he entered, already wrapped in plastic and ready to be bought and hung up in doorways in every home.

Then he saw Richie, gaze landing on him at the exact same time as Richie looked up to notice Eddie there. A surprised but happy smile dominated his features, lighting up the dreary and cold day of December. It woke Eddie up immensely, the coffee he had prepared to buy after long forgotten and not necessary anymore.

"Good morning!" Richie greeted, starting to move around the register to meet him.

"Good morning," Eddie responded, more weakly than he wanted with the nerves wracking his body.

"What a nice surprise to see you back here already!"

Eddie wanted to say: _Already? I've tortured myself for a whole week trying to stay away from this place! If I didn't have any self-control I would have been back here already the day after the last time I visited! I managed a whole fucking week! What the fuck do you mean "already"?_ , but instead he just smiled and ended up with saying: "Yeah, I guess I couldn't stay away."

For a second, Richie didn't say anything, mouth frozen in the smile he'd been carrying only seconds earlier. His lips opened slightly, words seeming caught in his throat as he searched for an answer. Eddie's heart was hammering, already feeling embarrassed at his own words.

Then Richie chuckled, tension draining out with it, and Eddie felt himself breathe all the way down to the bottom of his stomach.

"Uhm," Richie stopped. "I assume your mom liked the new bouquet?"

Eddie considered telling the truth. The urge to tell him that he was the reason Eddie was back in the store was massive, bubbling in his chest, a balloon ready to pop. He opened his mouth, words on his tongue, ready to spill out, but then he was overcome with a shiver, fear cooling him down. Snapping his mouth shut, he smiled. "Yeah, she loved them!"

"That's great to hear!" Richie paused, a cheeky smile forming on his lips. "I always love pleasing mothers." He winked.

A few seconds had to pass before the words registered in Eddie's brain, eyes blinking dumbly as he processed what Richie had just said. The first he felt was surprise, widening his eyes as he realized a fully grown man just told a mom joke, but then the initial shock passed when he saw the look on Richie's face. His lips were pressed together to hold back from laughing, eyes glittering with expectation as he anticipated Eddie's reaction. And that's when Eddie could feel his lips twitch, giggles building in his chest and clawing their way to the surface.

Before he could stop himself, shocked laughter was bursting out of him, the joke so awful, he couldn't help but find it extremely funny. Richie started laughing with him, a satisfied smile on his face as he watched Eddie's laughter fade out.

"I-" Eddie had to stop to breathe. "I can't believe you just said that, how old are you?"

Richie was beaming. "I mean, it looked like you found it pretty fucking funny, so I don't know why you're dissing me right now. But yeah, I'm 28."

"Just didn't expect that, I guess." Eddie nodded his head. "And me too."

"Cool."

They smiled at each other shyly, comfortable silence hanging in the air around them. Eddie was _so_ in love.

"Can I ask what your name is?" Richie asked, the same smile sending butterflies soaring through Eddie's stomach, wanting to break out and fly free.

"Uh, Eddie."

"I'm Richie."

Eddie nodded, already knowing that, but not saying so out loud.

Richie cleared his throat. "So, what can I help you with today, Eddie?"

And then Eddie's brain went blank. He hadn't thought that far yet, his mind working overload to come up with an excuse quickly.

"Uhm, a gar-", Eddie coughed into his fist. "One of those Christmas garlands, to hang outside my shop." His lips moved quickly around the words, his voice not sounding as relaxed as he'd hoped. Richie didn't comment on it.

"Sure, we have them this way."

Soon enough they'd found one Eddie liked, and Richie started wrapping it up by the register. Eddie's wallet was crying in his pocket at the thought of buying another 30$ worth of something he didn't even want.

"What shop do you work in?"

"Oh, I own the tattoo parlor across the street."

"Wow, really?" Richie raised his eyebrows. "Such a cool place, I’ve been there once."

Eddie couldn’t help the surprised sound in his throat. "You have a tattoo?"

"Yeah!" Richie smiled, stopping the wrapping of the garland to roll up his sleeve, the soft sweater pulling back to reveal a slightly hairy forearm, pale porcelain skin contrasting beautifully with the black and dotted flower tattoo right underneath his elbow. Eddie recognized the design immediately. Beverly’s work was always flawless, and Eddie wanted to reach out to stroke a finger over it.

"Wow," was all he managed.

"Yeah." Richie traced the tattoo with his thumb, smiling down at it fondly. "I’m really happy with it. A red-haired woman did it for me."

"Yeah," Eddie nodded. "Beverly. She’s amazing."

"Oh, yeah, definitely."

Silence settled over them for a second. Eddie looked up at him, his hands fumbling with each other. "I guess you were there when I was off or something."

A sheepish smile spread over Richie’s lips, his fingers starting to pull down his sleeve again. "Yeah, I guess so."

"I, uh-" Eddie put his nervous fingers into fists to keep them from shaking. "I would have remembered you if I'd seen you there before."

Richie's blush was beautiful.

This time, not even a week had passed when Eddie entered ' _Oopsie Daisy_ ' again. Four days, to be exact. He bought another garland. Not that he knew where to put it though.

Then three days passed. Richie greeted him with a "hey, Eds!" when he walked through the door, Eddie feeling his toes wriggle happily inside his shoes. He bought lilies for his mom, intending to actually give them to her this time. She wasn't happy with those flowers either.

Then another two days went by, and Eddie had another flower bouquet perched on the counter in his shop. Blue hydrangeas again. Even though they were beautiful, they didn't quite go with the interior he and Beverly had decided on all those years ago. Richie's blue eyes had glittered in a breathtaking smile when Eddie asked about them though, so he guessed it was worth it.

The day after, he was working on a costumer, the weight of the tattoo machine calming in his hand. It had been obvious the man getting the tattoo had made the decision spontaneously, not knowing what he wanted to get when he entered the place. Then the guy had taken one look at the hydrangeas, sitting beautifully on the counter, and proceeded to ask for a tattoo of them.

He was almost finished when the bell rang out, indicating a new costumer. Not looking up, scared to mess up anything, he yelled out a quick, "be there in a minute!".

"No problem, take your time!" a familiar voice said, sending shivers through Eddie's limbs, goosebumps raising on his arms. He lifted the machine instantly from the costumer's skin before he dropped it, already feeling his hands shake.

Turning around, he was met with Richie's pretty smile. He was wearing a bright red puffer jacket with a dark gray beanie holding down his wavy hair. He looked so soft Eddie wanted to cry.

"R-Richie! Hey!" He turned the machine off, the buzzing sound leaving the room much quieter than he realized it was. His playlist must be between songs. Then again, the blood in his ears was pumping so loudly he couldn't be sure, his heart ready to jump out of his chest at the sight of Richie smiling at him like that, all bundled up for the winter season. "What are you doing here?"

"Thought about getting a tattoo here." he looked around the shop, eyes lingering on the hydrangeas.

"Oh!" Eddie fumbled for what to say.

"But just finish the job you were doing, and I'll wait." He sat down in one of the lounge chairs in the waiting area, pulling down the sipper of his jacket and shrugging it off. "I'd wait forever and a day for you," he added, putting on a weird accent Eddie couldn't place.

Eddie just smiled, pushing his lips together as to not grin too widely, and moved slowly back towards the still waiting costumer, the man looking slightly impatient.

"Sorry about that," Eddie apologized before continuing his work, his senses very well aware of Richie's presence, behind Eddie and a little to the right. It was like everything in the parlor changed with Richie's arrival. The smell a little sweeter, the light a little brighter, background noises fading with Richie's sounding movements. Each time he moved, a rustling sound echoed in Eddie's ears. He'd tap on his phone, and whatever song playing on the speakers drifted away. A clearing of his throat, and Eddie was close to turning around just to look at him. He tried to focus back on his work, he really did, but Richie had his full attention, and all of Eddie was picking up each little thing about him.

Despite Eddie's struggle to focus, the tattoo turned out as planned, and he felt a sense of pride when the man took a look at his bicep in the mirror with a happy smile.

"Dude, this looks so great!" he praised, fingers hovering over his skin, but not quite touching. "Fuck-, just, wow. Thanks so much, man."

"No problem! I'm happy you like it", Eddie smiled, moving over to the register as he started instructing the man of cleaning rituals so it wouldn't get infected. Soon the man paid, tattoo wrapped up, rambling "holy fuck, I can't believe I got a fucking tattoo, what the fuck, Matt is gonna lose his damn mind" as he did, and then he left. Eddie and Richie were alone.

Finally meeting Richie's gaze, Eddie leaned on the counter. Richie was already watching him.

"I saw the tattoo," he said, standing up. "You're really good."

"Thanks," was all Eddie knew to say.

"The hydrangeas look nice in here too."

Automatically Eddie looked over to the flowers, the blue color seeming much more saturated than ever before. "They do."

"Maybe you could tattoo a hydrangea on me too?" Richie smiled, walking over to the counter. Eddie's breath caught at their close proximity.

"Yeah, sure!" Eddie was already grabbing the drawing of the tattoo he'd inked on the last costumer. It was of four hydrangeas, lined simply with stems and leaves. He showed it to Richie.

"That's really nice", Richie commented, pointing to the most prominent of the flowers, the one in the middle. "Maybe just the one there, though. A little smaller maybe."

They chatted as Eddie worked, Richie barely flinching as the needle hit the side of his wrist. While working, he had to hold Richie's hand to keep it steady, electricity shooting through his veins at the contact, in from his fingers and all the way down to his toes. It made him feel dizzy.

As Richie seemed to get more comfortable with him, he became more dorky, crooked teeth peeking behind a beaming grin as he joked around. At some point he had Eddie shrieking with laughter, the needle pulled far away from both of them to not ink anything unwanted. His entire body had been shaking, Richie's Boston accent in an impression of some cop ringing inside his mind on repeat, making him laugh louder and louder each time he imagined it again. Wiping tears from the corner of his eye, he managed to calm down after a minute, the smile on Richie's face unlike anything Eddie had ever seen.

He looked so proud for making Eddie laugh like that, and his gaze was piercing into Eddie's face so sharply that Eddie had to excuse himself for a second to get his breath back and drink some water.

Never had he taken this much time on such a small tattoo, but he had also never enjoyed working this much before. He was enjoying spending some time alone with Richie, usually not happy when business was slow, but this time thrilled about it.

The tattoo was finished rather quickly after that, and he finished the last line of the flower miserably, pulling his chair back to take a proper look at it.

Richie turned his hand around to look at it himself, and he grinned at what he saw. "Wow, that looks so great."

"Good." Eddie turned the machine off and put it away.

"You did _mah_ -velous, my love." The British accent wasn't perfect, but Eddie couldn't help the smile growing bigger by the second each time Richie opened his mouth, a blush rising to his cheeks at the pet name.

"I'm really happy you think so," he said genuinely.

"Yeah, I'll definitely be back to get another one done here."

Then the tattoo had been wrapped up, the payment finished and Richie was out of the parlor. Eddie could see him looking at the Christmas garland hanging on the door outside for a moment before meeting Eddie's eyes through the window. And soon he was gone, disappearing across the street and into his own shop.

The next day, Eddie didn't even hesitate when he walked into ' _Oopsie Daisy_ ', already a plan in mind. If anything, the two of them were definitely friends at this point, and his crush on Richie was too massive not to do anything with. He'd known the man for several weeks, and the day before he'd been laughing harder than he'd probably ever done his entire life. Or at least not since he was a kid and hanging out with Bev.

"Eddie!" Richie's voice wrapped around Eddie's heart.

"Good morning!" he walked over to the register, a slight skip to his step, where Richie was fumbling with the computer. "How are you?"

"Better now that your cute lil face is here to greet me this cold and dark morning."

"I should come in here each morning then."

Richie grinned. "You should."

"I don't think my wallet would be too happy about it, though."

It seemed like Richie was ready to reply with a joke, but then something flashed in his eyes and he closed his lips, seeming to think over his words. "I mean, you're welcome to pop in without buying anything too. You know, just to say hi. And stuff." He bit his lip with a shy smile.

The offer made Eddie feel giddy. Not that he didn't feel giddy around Richie all the time. "Yeah, that sounds nice."

Clearing his throat, Richie moved away from the computer. "But anything I can help you with now, or?"

"Uh, yeah." Eddie licked his lips. "You have mistletoe, right?"

A coffee-cup was knocked over by Richie's fingers as he abruptly moved his arm to get a hold of the edge of the counter, coffee starting to seep out of the lid.

"Fuck," Richie whispered, clumsy fingers hovering above it, but not doing anything. His hands moved from the coffee threatening to spill over the counter and then over the cup itself, seeming to not know where to start fixing the problem. Eddie grabbed for the cup, stopping more coffee from spilling out.

"Paper," he said simply.

"Right, right." Richie crouched down behind the counter, quickly returning with some paper towels. Together they managed to soak up the coffee, drips of it also having pooled on the floor.

"Damn. Thanks," Richie sighed when they were done. "Sorry, I'm a klutz."

"No, it's fine."

They smiled at each other.

"But, yeah, about the mistletoe. We sold out of those yesterday. I was gonna start making new ones when you entered actually." Richie shrugged. "So if you're willing to wait, I'll put one together for you."

"I actually have to get into work." Eddie pointed with his thumb behind him. "But, maybe you could come into the parlor when you're done with it? I can pay now though."

Richie nodded. "Yeah, sure."

Twenty minutes later, as Eddie was sorting through some papers on his desk, Richie entered the shop, the bell ringing like it usually did.

"Delivery for Mr.-, uh, Mr. Eddie? Sorry, I don't know your last name." Richie stopped in the entrance.

"It's Kaspbrak," Eddie chuckled.

"Right, let me try that again." Richie backed out the door, leaving the shop completely before entering again. "Delivery for a Mr. Kaspbrak!" Richie announced, probably loud enough for Beverly to hear in the break room where she was making coffee.

"That would be me." Eddie stepped away from the register, hands stretched out to take the mistletoe out of Richie's arms, their fingers brushing.

"Sir, may I see your I.D. so I know you're Mr. Kaspbrak?" Richie's face was pulled together in a serious frown. Only the gleam in his eyes showed he was kidding.

"Fuck off," Eddie giggled, no malice behind his words. He looked at the gift in his hands, prettily wrapped up in gift paper and ribbons. He'd seen how they usually wrapped their mistletoe, and Eddie smiled at how this one was done with some extra stuff decorating it. "This is beautiful, Richie. Thanks so much."

"Anything for you, Sir Kaspbrak." Richie bowed.

Eddie was already done unwrapping the mistletoe when Richie stood back up. Before letting himself back away from his decision, he reached up between them with the mistletoe in hand. In his mind, he'd pictured it going a lot smoother, but the height difference between them was more obvious than ever now that Eddie's arm didn't reach high enough for the mistletoe to be above Richie's towering figure. Instead, it brushed at his forehead, blocking his eyes from Eddie's view.

"Uh, fuck." He moved his arm to the side so he could see Richie properly again, whose eyes were wide behind his glasses, mouth agape and face pink. "I'm a little short, but you get the point. Uh…" He bit his lip. Richie's mouth closed.

"We don't have to kiss or anything." Eddie took a deep breath. "But I like you, and-, so if you want, I thought, uh, maybe we could go out? Sometime? If you want. If you're not interested, that's totally fine. I absolutely get it if you don't like me back, but I just-" Eddie stopped as Richie reached up to take the mistletoe out of his hand, holding it up between them, higher than Eddie had managed.

"Hey Eds," Richie whispered. He pointed up with his other hand, eyes briefly looking up. "Look, mistletoe."

His voice was calm. Nervous. Eddie looked up to where the mistletoe was now hanging above them, before looking back at Richie, their eyes locking. A short intake of breath could be heard from Richie then, eyes flickering down to look at Eddie's lips.

And then he was leaning in, bending down as Eddie went up on his tip-toes to meet him halfway, and then they were kissing.

It wasn't anything too crazy, just lips pressing softly against each other, Richie catching Eddie's top lip between his. Their foreheads pressed together, a soft ruffle sounding beside them where the mistletoe was dropped. Both of Richie's hands landed on Eddie's hips before snaking around his waist. Eddie's arms were trapped between them, hands on Richie's chest and then moving up around his neck.

Eddie pulled back slightly before moving back in, sliding his nose against Richie's in the process. He could feel Richie smile against his lips, letting out a gentle breath of a laugh.

"What?" Eddie whispered between them.

Richie kept laughing lightly. "I didn't even really want a tattoo."

Keeping his arms around Richie's neck, Eddie pulled back. "What?"

"I just wanted an excuse to spend time with you." Richie's hands stroked over Eddie's back, eyes looking down at him all fondly.

"You got a tattoo only 'cause you wanted to spend time with me?"

"Pretty dumb, I know." Richie shrugged.

Eddie pulled back more. "Richie, oh my god."

"What?"

"Do you really think I needed all those flower bouquets and garlands?"

"Uh…" Richie's eyes looked over to the hydrangeas.

"I just wanted to keep meeting you. I didn't care about the flowers."

"Oh."

"You did make beautiful bouquets, though."

Richie looked down with a smile. "Thanks. I guess I had an idea. At least a hope, but I wasn't sure."

"But you got a fucking tattoo, Richie, what the fuck."

Throwing his head back, Richie started laughing.

"That's gonna be on your skin forever", Eddie reminded him, but he could feel himself starting to laugh too.

Richie calmed down, smiling down at Eddie. "Good thing it's such a nice tattoo then."

A couple of months later, Eddie was on his lunch break when he decided to visit ' _Oopsie Daisy_ '. Stepping inside the small shop he heard the familiar bell ring out, the scent of flowers warming him up on the inside. It smelled like home. Itsmelled like Richie.

"Hello!" Richie called out from behind the register. There was a couple costumers in the shop already.

"Hi," Eddie said, stepping up to the counter. "I wanna buy a bouquet for my boyfriend. Do you have any blue hydrangeas or something?"

"Oh, certainly sir." Richie nodded seriously, playing along. "Right this way."

A few minutes later Eddie was holding a beautiful flower bouquet, all blues, greens and whites. Carefully wrapped in plastic tied together with a red ribbon, it was as beautiful as all of Richie's creations. He looked at Richie, a dumb lovesick smile on his lips.

"This is gorgeous, thank you."

"Hope you actually needed it this time."

"Oh, definitely."

Richie's smile was blinding.

"I'll see you after work." Eddie leaned over the counter, kissing him gently. Richie pushed their noses together.

"See you after work, my love."

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks so much for reading!! Let me know what you think!  
> Follow me on tumblr: moonlightrichie


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